


You Are Not

by Skyeec2



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Gen, I didn't write this as shippy, I tried?, Slight Angst?, Song fic, Songfic, You Are Not - Young Guns, at least i'm pretty sure I didn't, maybe? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 04:26:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5571209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyeec2/pseuds/Skyeec2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yosuke is having a bad time. Yu is a good friend. featuring the song You Are Not by the Young Guns.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Are Not

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing and nothing is being gained from the creation of this little fics.  
> As always this is edited by the corrupted spirit from the Tumblr.  
> Please leave me prompts for fanfics you might enjoy in my Tumblr askbox @skyeec2

_Lonely, lonely, undefined_

_You say you take your time,_

_I say you hide away_

 

Yu had recently noticed that Yosuke was acting quite differently than how he would normally act, becoming more and more withdrawn from them as the days passed and they explored the TV World more and more.

 

Yu had first noticed the change in his friend’s demeanour after he had opted to let Kanji traverse the TV World with him and Yukiko, leaving Yosuke behind at the entrance to the Bathhouse, while they showed Kanji how to use his Persona.

 

He had opted to leave Yosuke behind as Yu had recently fused the Persona Titania with the skill Magarula and didn’t need the skills Yosuke and his Persona, Jiraiya provided.

 

After returning to the entrance after exploring the Bathhouse as far as they were able to that day, Yu and his friends took a few moments to relax and catch their breath, Yu noticed the uncharacteristic silence of his self-proclaimed partner. Glancing up Yu searched the area for where Yosuke had gotten off to, only to notice him sitting on a bench a ways away, gazing into nothing with a far-away look in his eyes.

 

Approaching the other Yu attempted to catch Yosuke’s attention to question him if anything was wrong and if so how he could help his friend. But before he could, Yosuke seemed to snap out of his thoughts and turned to smile in Yu’s direction.

 

‘Sorry partner, I was just sorting through some things I need to do before I go home tonight. Nothing too big, nothing for you to worry about.’ Yosuke assured him, smiling broadly at Yu before turning away from him and directing his attention to their other friends.

 

Was it just him or did Yosuke’s smile seem a bit strained, was he hiding something from him? Perhaps he should keep an eye on his friend.

 

_Lonely, lonely hard to shine_

_When they don’t notice you at all_

_Sink further every day_

 

Yu attempted to observe Yosuke over the next few weeks but it was proving difficult with the situation with Rise escalating, he was unable to truly keep an eye on his friend and figure out even a sliver of what was going on with the other boy.

 

Though he did notice some vast differences in Yosuke when they eventually attempted to rescue Rise from her dungeon. He had decided to bring Yukio, Kanji, and Yosuke as he had recently fused King Frost with Mabufula and gotten rid of his Titania, meaning that he didn’t have a particularly strong Garu user in his arsenal.

 

As they traversed through the Club, Yu noticed that Yosuke seemed to be lagging behind more than Yu would have expected. He noticed that Yosuke’s aim wasn’t as precise as it usually was and when they did connect, the winds didn’t seem to do as much damage as his and the others attacks did.

 

They continued that way for another floor or two before Yu was forced to use a Goho-M and get them back to the entrance as much as he didn’t want to, he needed to change who he was bringing into the dungeon if he wanted to get anywhere and rescue Rise as quickly as possible.

 

Yu attempted to explain his reasoning to Yosuke as gently as possible while they spent a few minutes catching their breath before they returned to the dungeon. Yu tried his best to break his decision to Yosuke as gently as possible but it still didn’t stop Yosuke’s face from taking on an almost shattered expression.

 

Yu wanted to press Yosuke to his chest until the expression disappeared from his face and didn’t return, but he didn’t get the chance to even move. Yosuke stormed away from him and refused to even look in his direction.

 

Yu watched Yosuke sadly as he prepared to once again start traversing the dungeon, he would talk to Yosuke once they had rescued Rise and gotten her from this world safely. Yu would do anything in his power in order to prevent that expression from crossing his dear friends face again.

 

He would definitely talk to his friend when this calmed down and they had rescued Rise. With renewed resolve Yu straightened his spine and started back into the dungeon, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible so that he could talk to Yosuke as quickly as possible.

 

_You’re only so lonely_

_And I never had a doubt,_

_You don’t even know me_

_Still, you pass your judgement out_

 

A week passed after they had rescued Rise and since the situation with Teddie and Yu still hadn’t had the chance to talk with Yosuke seriously one-to-one. Not from lack of trying on Yu’s part though, Yosuke had disappeared each day after school ended, claiming he had to help out at work and refusing to speak to Yu when he asked Yosuke to hang out with him during lunch and on the weekend.

 

Yu had, had enough of Yosuke avoiding him, so he decided that after school today he would not allow Yosuke to run off to wherever he was going. He was going to make Yosuke talk to him ever if it caused his friend to become annoyed with him.

 

As soon as class ended, Yu was standing in front of Yosuke’s desk before the other boy could leave the room and disappear on him again.

 

“Yosuke, I need to talk to you about something.” Yu’s tone was flat and serious, his gaze determined as he watched Yosuke fidget in front of him, avoiding looking at him as much as possible.

 

“Yeah, Yu… we can talk.” Yosuke agreed in a small voice, keeping his eyes averted from Yu as he followed the silver-haired boy out of the room.

 

Yu had decided that it might be better if he brought Yosuke to the top of the hill overlooking Inaba for their talk so he lead the brunette that way remaining silent and observing the other fidget out of the corner of hid eye.

 

Reaching their destination, Yu sat at the table, gesturing for Yosuke to do the same and sorted through what he wanted to say to his friend.

 

Deciding to be direct Yu started the conversation with a blunt question. “You’ve been acting a bit off lately Yosuke, are you okay?”

 

Yu watched Yosuke fidget more and more, obviously attempting to come up with a way to deter Yu from his line of questioning. “It’s nothing to worry about. I already told you I’m fine.”

 

Yu didn’t believe the other, leaning forward slightly he gazed imploringly at his friend. “Yosuke, you I’m your friend, I’m worried about you and I want to help in any way I can. Please tell me what’s wrong.”

 

“You know what Yu?” Yosuke started angrily, glaring into Yu’s eyes. “I don’t care what you want! You’re only some privileged city kid who got dumped here, so you cares about what you think! Just leave me alone and mind your own business for once!”

 

To say Yu was shocked was an understatement, he watched in shock as Yosuke got up and stormed away from him. Yu continued to watch the other boy storm away from him. Yu heaved a sigh when the other was out of sight and turned back to look out over the town, attempting to keep the pressure behind his eyes at bay.

 

 

_When you belong_

_You’re just a face in the crowd to me_

_You’re only so lonely, like everybody else_

 

Yu hadn’t talked to Yosuke since that day on the hill and the others were beginning to notice the awkwardness between the two boys and how they avoided being alone together for any length of time.

 

Yu couldn’t help but feel incredibly awkward around the other, and over time he noticed that Yosuke was spending more and more time hanging around other people in the school. Yu readily admitted at least to himself that he missed the company of his friend and he hoped he could make things better between the two of them.

 

His chance came after their P.E. class a week or so later, the class had finished for the day and everyone had left the locker room by that time. Yu had left something in his locker that he had promised to show Kanji later on, so he entered the room not expecting anyone to be in there.

 

The sounds of crying coming from deeper within the room startled him. Creeping forward Yu was surprised to find Yosuke sitting alone in the deserted room, crying into his hands.

 

Yu didn’t even think before he was moving over to his friend and wrapping the crying brunette in his arms, consoling the  boy and sitting with him until he was ready. With Yosuke’s face buried in his chest, Yu once again resolved to get to the bottom of what was going on with his friend, no matter if Yosuke wanted to talk about it or not.

 

 

_Lonely, lonely, little fly_

_You say they pay you no mind_

_I say there’s a better way_

 

They remained there for an undetermined amount of time, until Yosuke’s sobbing had quietened slightly and no longer shook his body as much as they had moments ago. Yu felt Yosuke bury his face deeper into his chest before the brunette cautiously lifted his head and gazed up at him with swollen and watery brown eyes.

 

Yu hated the expression on his best friend’s face at that moment, he hugged Yosuke to himself and spoke to him in a gentle tone. “Please, tell me what’s going on.”

 

“It’s nothing to worry about… I’m working it out.” Yosuke’s tone matched his eyes and his shaky words did nothing to reassure Yu.

 

“You don’t have to handle whatever it is on our own. I’m your friend, I care about you. I want to help you however I can, I won’t leave you to do this on your own.” Yu response obviously startled the brunette, had no one ever offered to help the other boy before?

 

Yosuke’s sobbing started once more, shaking his lithe frame with the power of his tears. Yu pulled the brunette to himself and consoled the distraught boy as much as he possibly could, waiting for the other to cease his tears so he could figure out how he could help his friend.

 

Yosuke did not have to be alone through this, Yu had to remind him that he and the others were all willing to help him in any way they could.

 

_You hang yourself in your web_

_Drawn and quartered out_

 

Yu had suggested they go somewhere else after Yosuke’s tears once again lessened, wanting to have the conversation somewhere more private and comfortable for the other boy. He wanted to make this as easy for the brunette as possible.

 

He decided that bringing Yosuke to his place would be the best decision as Nanako-chan was spending the night at one of her friend’s place and Dojima-san was currently working over-time at the police station. He settled them on the downstairs couch and calmly waited for Yosuke to start talking about whatever he was having trouble with.

 

Yosuke gazed around the room distractedly, avoiding Yu’s gaze and the subject they needed to talk about. Yu watched him for a few minutes before deciding to prompt him slightly.

 

“Start wherever you want, I’ll listen.” His tone was soft and calm, hoping that Yosuke would explain why he was acting the way he had the past few weeks and that he could help in some way.

 

“… It’s stupid…” the response was soft, barely spoken and if Yu wasn’t paying so much attention to his friend he would have missed it.

 

“Not if it’s affecting you this much it isn’t.” Yu was firm with his statement, truly believing that what he said was the truth. If whatever it was making Yosuke act this way then it was definitely important.

 

Yosuke gazed at him for a moment, his expression shocked as he thought about what Yu had just told him. “It’s just… stuff’s been hard with work is all… I’ve been having some issues with some of the other part-time workers… It’s just really silly when I think about it and I shouldn’t let it get to me as much as it does…”

 

Yosuke ducked his head once again, obviously feeling ashamed of what he had just said. Yu watched Yosuke with concern before he attempted to prompt the other boy once more. “I don’t think that’s stupid Yosuke, if someone’s giving you a hard time at work then I want to know about it. You have a hard enough time as it is with everything that’s been going on, tell me more about it”

 

Yosuke kept his head down as he answered, “Some of the part-timers…. They’re not really pulling their weight, y’know? I mean… they’re missing work, calling in sick… refusing to do their workload when they do show up… So, I’m usually the one that gets dragged into doing the stuff they won’t… and it doesn’t help that they come and complain to me just because I’m the manager’s kid. It’s not like I can do anything! I’m not important! I’m the manager’s kid that doesn’t mean I have any standing in the store!”

 

Yu was stunned by what he heard, he hadn’t known that Yosuke was having issues at work. Yu felt awful that he hadn’t known what was going on in his friend’s life, he needed to pay more attention to his friend to prevent something like this from happening again.

 

“And it’s hard, it’s so hard because I want to make my dad proud of me and I don’t want to cause be a bother to the others at work… but I can’t keep it up anymore! It’s too hard, it’s too much for me to do and I just can’t anymore! I can’t!” By the end Yosuke was once again sobbing into his hands and Yu was left to console his best friend as he pondered how he could help Yosuke with his situation.

 

_The more you hurt_

_The more you heal,_

_The more you’ll figure out_

 

Yu had decided that he would have Yosuke spend the night here, he had a spare futon that he could use and after clearing it with his uncle and Yosuke’s parents Yu started on a simple dinner for the two of them while Yosuke set up the spare futon upstairs.

 

Yu allowed his mind to wander as he went through the familiar motions of preparing dinner, thinking about what the brunette had confided to him earlier. It was obvious to Yu now, that Yosuke was stressed due to the pressures he faced during his job at the local Junes.

 

Yu had gained concerns about Yosuke and the troubles that his position garnered him when they had been confronted by those girls all those weeks ago. Those concerns had been pushed to the back of his mind as the case progressed but now Yu understood that he shouldn’t have forgotten the worries he had in relation to his friend.

 

Yu was pulled from his musings as Yosuke entered the kitchen area in a part of Yu’s sleepwear, Yu noticed that the clothes were slightly baggy on Yosuke’s thinner frame and the way Yosuke seemed to be trying to fold into himself didn’t help that perception very much.

 

Yosuke’s lithe frame made him faster in combat, allowing him to use his knives more effectively but that observation wasn’t relevant in their current situation, what was relevant was how worried and uncomfortable the other looked just standing there.

 

Yu smiled at his friend as he gestured him to sit down at the table while he finished up, he couldn’t hide that Yosuke’s uncharacteristic behaviour was worrying him.

 

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he served up their dinner and brought it over to the table, handing Yosuke his share as he settled across from him. The brunette still had a troubled look on his face as they muttered their prayers before they started eating.

 

Yu continued to watch Yosuke through dinner, noticing that the expression on his face never wavered and remained as worried as it was at the start. Yu set his utensils down before he spoke to the brunette once more.

 

“Is there anything else you want to talk about? You look worried, Yosuke.” Yu was attempting to be as gentle with his questioning as he could be, hoping that Yosuke would tell him what was going on in his head once more.

 

“It’s just… I acted really stupid in the T.V. World that time and I let it affect my skills when we were rescuing Rise. I was just got really jealous when you took Kanji in and not me, even though I do understand the reasons you did, I couldn’t help it… and I let it affect me more than it should have and I’m sorry, I let you down. I let the Team down.” Through his words Yosuke continued to gaze down at where he had his hands clenched on the table, his tone was small and shameful he was truly sorry about his actions.

 

Yu smiled encouragingly at his friend, before he gave his answer to the brunette. “It’s alright Yosuke, I don’t blame you for that.” The other’s head shot up to stare at him, “you were having a bad day when we were rescuing Rise and it’s understandable to get worried about things like that, I don’t blame you, I know that the others won’t blame you and you shouldn’t blame yourself either. We’ll all have days like that eventually I’m sure of it, we’re only human.”

 

The brunette continued to stare at him, before a smile started to bloom on his face and with a soft, muttered “Thanks Yu,” the two boys resumed their dinner, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of the empty house.

 

_You’re only so lonely_

_And I never had a doubt,_

_You don’t even know me_

_Still you pass your judgement out_

_When you belong_

_You’re just a face in the crowd to me_

_You’re only so lonely, like everybody else_

 

After dinner Yosuke insisted on helping with the dishes, which Yu allowed after a slight bit of argument between the two. Yu hadn’t wanted Yosuke to help him with the chore as he was a guest in their house and Yu had thought it rude to get the brunette to help with the chore, while Yosuke stated that even if Yu didn’t accept his help he would get it anyway.

 

Yu was bemused by his friend’s attitude and eventually agreed to allow the brunette to help him and they quickly finished before they ascended the stairs to Yu’s room where Yosuke had set up the spare futon.

 

They spent a bit of time before they went to sleep with Yu helping Yosuke with some of their homework for that day, by this time Yosuke was almost back to his old self comfortable joking around with Yu as they worked on their homework.

 

Yu was happy that his friend was back to his usual self, he had missed hanging around the cheerful boy and he knew that the even though he had a number of friends in Inaba Yosuke was his best friend and no one would ever be able to replace him in that regard.

 

Yu’s smile was bright and fond by the time Yosuke proclaimed he’d, had enough of the homework and wanted to do something more enjoyable before they retired for bed. Yu chuckled as he informed the brunette that he probably didn’t have anything like that in here, only books and a few unfinished model sets.

 

His friend stared at him in disbelief as he questioned what Yu did for enjoyment around here, as he knew that the Inaba nightlife was far different than that of the big city, Yu gazed steadily at Yosuke as he stated that he spent his time studying, something the other needed to do more of. Yosuke’s only response was to scoff as he ran a hand through his unruly hair before he started to ask Yu random questions until they were both ready to sleep for the evening.

 

As Yu settled into his own futon and drowsiness began to overcome him, he swore he heard a soft “Thank you” before unconsciousness completely overcame his mind.

 

_You are not a diamond,_

_You are not a shining star_

 

In the morning Yu prepared a simple breakfast for the both and offered a spare uniform to Yosuke before they started to school, the calm atmosphere from the night before continued on through the way to school, even though he noticed that Yosuke tensed up slightly when they met up with Chie and Yukiko on the road they continued to the school building with the promise that they would talk to their other friends about what was going on later after school.

 

They spoke with Kanji momentarily at the gate of school before they needed to get to their classroom, he seemed happy that Yosuke and Yu were back to how they used to be and no longer avoiding each other.

 

At the end of the school day, they all met on the school building roof and waited as patiently as possible to discover what the problem with their friend’s was about.

 

Yosuke gazed at the other’s with an abashed expression, refusing to look them in the eyes as he explained how much stress he was currently experiencing at work with some of the part-time workers and how he felt he had too much on his plate, he also talked about the reason behind his avoidance of them the past few weeks, including how he felt about what had occurred at Rise’s dungeon.

 

Yosuke spoke in a hesitant, halting tone showing that he was uncomfortable with the situation he was in. He was most likely embarrassed with having to express his shortcomings and difficulties with the people he was coming to see as friends.

 

Yu remained calm and kept an encouraging smile on his face as Yosuke continued his explanation of the reasons behind why he had acted in the way he had.

 

When he had finished speaking, Yosuke kept his face averted from the others as he waited for them to speak.

 

_Doesn’t mean that you’re not perfect_

_Exactly as you are_

 

“Geez Yosuke, you’re allowed to have bad days, but what’s not allowed is keeping things like _this_ , a secret from your friends!” Chie was the first to speak, reacting in her usual fashion, “If you ever do anything like that again, I’m gonna trample you!”

 

Yosuke stared at Chie in a stunned manner, before his eyes snapped to Yukiko as she began speaking. “Chie’s right, we were really worried about you Yosuke-kun and it hurts to think that you didn’t trust us enough to talk to us about what was going on. Did you not think that we would listen to you?”

 

Yukiko’s question caught the brunet of guard, Yosuke shot her down as quickly as he could. “No! No, it wasn’t that I swear! I… I just couldn’t…” Yosuke trailed off, at a lost for what to say.

 

“Nah, it’s okay Yosuke-senpai! After all we should all know what it’s like to have stuff we can’t or don’t want to talk to others about. Even the people closest to us. I think it’s great that you were actually able to tell us.”

 

Kanji’s word cause Yosuke to pause and turn to look at the younger boy, Yu had to admit he was also surprised at what the younger boy said though it wasn’t in a bad way. Maybe this would show Yosuke that he had friend who actually cared about him.

 

“Yeah… thanks Kanji,” Yosuke’s response was quiet. “It was pretty stupid of me to hide it from you guys and to avoid the topic all together but I did and I’m sorry guys.”

 

The others all smiled at the brunet, before giving him their own individual brands of encouragement. Yu was happy that Yosuke was able to open up about his problems to all of them. he hoped that something like this wouldn’t occur again in the future.

 

Even if it did though, they would all face it together as friends.

 

_You’re only so lonely_

_And I never had a doubt,_

_You don’t even know me_

_Still you pass your judgement out_

_When you belong_

_You’re just a face in the crowd,_

_You’re only so lonely, like everybody else_

 

_You are not a diamond,_

_You are not a shining star_

_Doesn’t mean that you’re not perfect_

_Exactly as you are_


End file.
